Etymology

ratify

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Today it means: To give formal consent to; make officially valid, to sign off on. Full definition →

Middle English ratifien ← Old French ratifier ← Medieval Latin ratifico
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂er-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂reh₁-
  3. Proto-Italic*rēōr
  4. Latinreor
  5. Latinratus
  6. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  7. Proto-Italic*θakos
  8. Medieval Latinratifico
  9. Old Frenchratifier
  10. Middle Englishratifien
  11. English todayratify

From Middle English ratifien, from Old French ratifier, from Medieval Latin ratifico, from Latin ratus (“reckoned”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.